Bert Dumars' Blog

I am excited to announce that after more than two decades as an executive and leader in digital marketing, eCommerce, social media marketing, and business technology, I have joined Forrester as a Vice President, Principal Analyst serving CMOs. One of the main reasons I decided to join Forrester was that I had been a client for more than nine years and had great experiences using Forrester reports and analyst interactions to achieve my business goals and objectives at Newell Rubbermaid and US Department of the Treasury, IRS. My relationship with Forrester goes even further back, as I briefed Forrester on my Intel and Dell products and technologies back in the 1990s. Also, it turned out that I knew more people at Forrester than any other firm . . . so as the old saying goes, I liked and respected the company so much as a client that I decided to join.

Another reason I joined Forrester, and the most important one, is to help CMOs and senior marketing executives solve problems in marketing to today’s consumers. In a world of digital disruption, ultra-connected consumers, and an ever-evolving customer life cycle, the challenge and complexity of marketing to consumers has never been greater. I believe that to overcome these challenges, CMOs are going to have to accelerate their innovation efforts and become digital disruptors in their target markets to succeed.

With that in mind, here are some questions I will be working on as I research CMO-led marketing innovation:

How do CMOs define marketing innovation, and what role are they playing in driving it?

How do CMOs drive innovation in different organizational cultures, ranging from experimental to risk-averse?

What models, processes, and frameworks are CMOs using to drive marketing innovation?

What are CMOs budgeting for innovation now, and how much do they expect to grow their innovation budget in the future?

These four questions will lead to many others. This is only a start to my journey with Forrester and researching CMO-led marketing innovation, but it's one that I expect will be ongoing for quite awhile. If you see consumer-focused marketing innovation programs that you feel are changing the market, please send them in my direction.

Finally, I am very active in social media. I talk about areas that interest me, including digital marketing, technology, eCommerce, social media, sports, entertainment, and cool science fiction. Feel free to engage with me on the following social networks:

Comments

Hi Bert,
Back in 2011, IBM did a study of 1,734 CMOs from around the globe, entitled “From Stretched to Strengthened”. It’s over 70 pages but to your first three questions, I’ve provided excerpts drawn from that study that I think are relevant in hopes it helps further your research on the topic.
Craig

How do CMOs define marketing innovation and what role are they playing in driving it?
“Anything that fosters lasting relationships. Proactive CMOs forge customer relationships that continue after the sale. And they fortify these bonds by creating a corporate character that manifests itself in everything their employees do and say.”

How do CMOs drive innovation in different organizational cultures ranging from experimental to risk averse?
“Create a small action team composed of eager marketing futurists — individuals within your organization who have the potential to be CMOs themselves someday. Give these people a short timeframe to review the issues and develop recommendations for resolving them.
Breaking the challenges into smaller chunks will enable you to address the big picture as well as the details and dependencies. It can also help you identify opportunities for small wins and boost support for more radical initiatives.
In addition to creating a task force, schedule time to talk with your C-suite peers. Consult the CIO about how you can improve your marketing tools and technologies. Confer with the CHRO about how to empower employees to better represent your organization’s corporate character. Enlist the CFO as a partner in developing the appropriate marketing metrics.
Lastly, look at the organization through your customers’ eyes, as they progress through the full relationship lifecycle. While you may believe you already capture this information, all the data in the world cannot replace the personal experience of walking in your customers’ shoes.”
What models, processes and frameworks are CMOs using to drive marketing innovation?
“Capitalize on new digital channels to stimulate customer conversations and new relationships; use tangible incentives to attract followers
• Engage with customers throughout the customer lifecycle; build online/offline communities to strengthen your brand
• Help the enterprise define and activate traits that make it unique and engage the C-suite to meld the
internal and external faces of the enterprise”